


Brie Sheldon's Lonely Games of Imagination, and some of the results I got

by mikawritesthings



Category: Of the Woods: Lonely Games of Imagination
Genre: Aliens, Canon Queer Relationship, Drabble Collection, Extended writing prompt, Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Mentions of Suicide, Multi, Necromancy, Original Character(s), Queer Themes, Role-Playing Game, Sibling Death, Tarot card games, Witchcraft, some of this shit is way too relevant to my own life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-06
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2020-04-11 21:03:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19117651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikawritesthings/pseuds/mikawritesthings
Summary: My school's LGBT tabletop club has a wonderful book in the e-reserves calledOf the Woods: Lonely Games of Imaginationby Brie Sheldon. Basically, it contains a series of solitaire role-playing games that kind of double as writing prompts? Anyhoo, these are some of the results I wound up with.





	1. Home Again

**Author's Note:**

> Please note that these are pretty stream-of-consciousness, as they were games that I played as I went rather than full-fledged stories. Like with normal TTRPGs, these games are pure pantsing. I was surprised by how these stories went.  
> If you like writing original fiction, writing prompts, or the role-playing aspect of TTRPGs, I recommend you check out _Of The Woods_!

**So you’ve come back to the small town you grew up in. You still don’t drive. It’s hotter**

**than you’d remembered. The people still look upon you with the same hard eyes. You**

**recognize a few of them.**

**After you read each question, draw a Tarot card and place it in front of you. Make a spread.**

**Observe the cards as they are drawn with an eye of passive contemplation. Think on the**

**card drawn until an answer to the question becomes clear. For later questions, consider**

**the card in relationship to the other cards drawn and truths established. Write down your**

**answer. Move to the next question.**

 

###  Instead of checking out your old home, what location do you visit first, in secret? Why?

7 of Wands R: perplexments, embarrassment, anxiety

I go visit my old high school. It’s kind of a combination of nostalgia and morbid curiosity; I want to see if it’s the same as I remember it, and if the kids there are still as awful to each other as they were when I went there.

###  What new feature has your town grown, like a boil?

10 of Pentacles: financial stability, security

There’s a lot more gentrification downtown. The coffeeshop I used to hide out in, where I first met another queer woman, is replaced by some bullshit place that only serves its coffee black. They charge about 7 bucks a cup because they brew it in some fancy way? Fuck that.

###  Who are you afraid will recognize you?

8 of Swords: being trapped in a situation that is easily escapable

My so-called boyfriend from eighth grade, Damien Little. Our relationship was entirely him trying to get me to do things I was way too young to do: partying with high schoolers, drinking booze, groping. I thank God that towards the end of the school year, I finally learned to say no. It could have been a lot worse.

###  Who are you afraid won’t?

King of Cups R: a dishonest man, a rogue, injustice

Joey Brown, the only other out person in my class. He was a scrappy little anarchist; always getting into trouble for carving messages into the bathroom wall or arguing with the teacher when she told him to stand for the Pledge. Last I heard, he was in jail for vandalism. He should be out by now. I hope he’s doing okay.

###  It’s your house. You knock; someone else lives there now, of course they do. You make small talk, you leave. There is no question here.

###  What memory rises to the surface, unbidden, as you turn away?

Strength R: weakness, discord

The time my parents found out I was gay. I’d been hiding it from them, afraid of what they might think. This is a small town in the South, after all. My dad understood far better than my mom did. I could hear them fighting as I lay in bed that night. 

###  Who recognizes you first?

The Heirophant: authority, social structure, rules

The minister from the Methodist church. He used to be a good friend of my dad’s, even though my dad was an atheist.

“Samantha!” he says. “I almost didn’t recognize you, what with the hair and all.” He doesn’t seem to understand that that was the point.

###  What’s in your pocket?

9 of Pentacles: safety, success, fruits of labor

A spell pouch. I worked for ages to get it right; to ensure that it was something that would actually work rather than whatever snake oil the new age movement is selling. It’s a spell of protection, so that if and when I confront the uglier parts of my past, I’ll be safe. Very safe indeed.

###  Who are you here to confront for the way they wronged you cruelly?

10 of Swords: rock bottom, depression, despair

Marina Stern. She was a cheerleader type, hair bleached blonde and face caked with foundation. She was surprisingly nice, though, once you got to know her. And under all that superficial bullshit, she was the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen.

Then I told her I loved her.

She spat in my face, called me horrible names, scrawled equally horrible ones across my locker. Pretty soon, the entire class was ostracizing me, no doubt having heard ugly rumors. Joey Brown was the only one who stood by me. Marina will pay for this. The pouch will see to it.

###  Where do you find them?

Ace of Swords R: conquest, tyranny

I find her in that bullshit hipster coffeeshop, on a date with some guy. When she turns to look up at me, she looks at me with horror. As if she expected her game of popularity to end in my suicide, so that she’d never have to see me again.

I smile at her with the grin of a wolf that just found its prey. “Hi, Marina.”

###  What happens then?

Wheel of Fortune: karma, fate, luck

Reaching into my pocket, I open the pouch. Shadows envelop my body like armor. A mask shaped like the skull of a bird grows to cover my head. The spell has given me exactly what I’ve been working for, these twelve years since I left Rocksville: a better version of myself.

The coffeeshop empties as people rush out in terror, but Marina stays put. She can’t leave. She’s a deer caught in headlights.

Marina gets exactly what’s coming to her. With inhuman speed, I dive my hand through her ribcage and rip out her heart. I brandish the bloody thing in the air. Marina Stern broke my heart. It’s only fitting that I break hers.

What happens after is a void. I come to in the street outside the coffeeshop, devoid of armor, covered in Marina’s blood. Across from me stands Joey Brown.

He’s a lot tougher-looking than he was when we were teens. More than just skin and bones now. He looks at me with a smile, and reaches into his own pocket.

Shadows coat his own body, and the mask of a wolf forms over his face.

“It’s good to see that there are more of us,” he says.

 


	2. I Believe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This particular game was probably my favorite in the book.

**They are coming tonight, and no one believes but you.**

**Use any one of the following words as you answer each question**

**below. Cross off the word after you’ve used it.**

~~_ Sky _ ~~ _ ,  _ ~~_ Fear _ ~~ _ , Opaque,  _ ~~_ Landing _ ~~ _ ,  _ ~~_ Confusion _ ~~ _ ,  _ ~~_ Never _ ~~ _ ,  _ _~~Always~~ , _

_ Remember,  _ ~~_ Shimmer _ ~~ _ , Rumble,  _ ~~_ Goodbye _ ~~

###  Who will you tell first?

I’ll tell my mother. Ever since I was little, ever since I woke from my first dream about the little girl with insectoid eyes and gel-like hair, she was the first one I’d confide in about these encounters. No one else would understand when I rambled on and on about the crystalline towers and shining outer rings of their home planet. They chalked it up to an overactive imagination. But my mother  _ never  _ scoffed at me for it, even though she didn’t believe. And she won’t scoff at me now.

###  Who will you hide it from?

My neighbors’ youngest son, Adrian. He’s only 12 years old, but he’s excellent at spreading rumors. Every time I have another vision of Yggdrasil, it  _ always  _ seems to turn into a story that neighbors whisper to each other behind my back about how crazy I am. Confronting him about it with a lecture on how it’s not nice to spread rumors won’t help. I’ll just get yelled at by his mother for trying to “do what should be the parents’ job.”

###  How do you know it’s tonight?

I had another vision last night. I stood on a balcony overlooking Yggdrasil’s capital city, Muninn, the same place I always see in these visions. The sun was just beginning to rise, casting brilliant pinks and golds across the  _ sky,  _ which in turn sent the countless spires of Muninn ablaze with gold. The streets below were nearly empty, perhaps because of the early hour.

Eida was there, leaning against the railing. The same little girl I’d seen in my first vision had grown up with me through the years. She was a beautiful young woman now, the plates of her chitinous armor iridescent in the early morning light. Eida was my closest friend, my confidante, and the first girl I’d ever loved.

“We’re taking off soon,” she said, nodding towards the horizon. I squinted and saw an armada of ships silhouetted against the sunrise. This is what they’d been planning for years; their expedition to a lonely little planet called Earth. Eida’s planet had been more keen to learn about mine than vice versa.

“Will you be there?” I asked.

She playfully scoffed. “Um, where I’ve been wanting to go for the past 20 years? Nah, I’d rather stay inside and play video games.”

“Okay, stupid question,” I laughed. “When...when do you think you’ll land?”

“It should be night on Earth when we get there.” Her face turned serious. “Be ready for it.”

###  How will you prepare?

I honestly don’t know. I pack a duffel bag, in a haze of  _ confusion _ _.   _ What will they have on the ships? What won’t they have? Eventually, I settle on enough food, toiletries, and changes of clothes to get me through a few days.

###  What will you put off doing?

I put off saying  _ goodbye  _ to everyone. How do you give your last farewell to a town full of people who dismissed you as the village crazy lady for your entire life?

###  How will they try and stop you?

As it turns out, my mother doesn’t understand.  _ Fear  _ fills her eyes when I explain everything to her. She thinks I’m giving her a coded suicide note. She begins to dial 911, and I leg it out of the house before the dial tone even starts.

###  What will you sacrifice to get away?

The lavender lights of their ships  _ shimmer  _ in the sky as I sprint to follow them. My breath is becoming more and more ragged; I think my old asthma is coming back. Puckerbrush tears viciously at my legs, and I’ve almost tripped on roots more times than I can count. It doesn’t matter. I realize I’d give my life for this moment.

Then my vision starts to grow black around the edges, and I fall.

###  How will you feel when they arrive?

Next thing I know, I’m lying on my back, surrounded by Yggdrasilians. Their ships’  _ landing  _ must have been silent, otherwise it would have woken me from my sleep...right? It’s deeply uncomfortable to be here. The Yggdrasilians are looking at me like I’m a thing under a microscope, and my body aches with endless sprains, strains, and bruises.

But a familiar voice brings me more joy than I could have ever imagined.

“You might’ve been a little too ready there, huh?”

###  What will happen when you finally close your eyes?

The next while is kind of a blur. They carry my limp form to a medical pod, where I sink into some kind of gel. Eida is there by my bedside as several nurses fuss over my injuries. They leave to let me rest, and she leans over.

“I can’t believe you’re actually here,” she says. She doesn’t have tear ducts, but I can hear her choking up.

I want to say something clever, something loving, anything to express to her how much I feel the same. All that comes out of my mouth is a groan that kind of sounds like a “yeah.”

Eida laughs a musical laugh. The last thing I  _ remember  _ before closing my eyes is her gently touching her lips to my cheek.


	3. Hollow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hacked this particular game to include tarot, because I liked the concept but didn't know where to start. Then this happened, and I wound up making myself cry.

**In your chest is a void; outside the forest thrums with power.**

**It has been an age since you chose to slumber to escape the ache of your**

**loss. You fled to the forest, its roots drinking deep from the world’s heart**

**and its branches stretching to pray to the stars. Someone at the forest’s**

**edge has brought you out of your restless nightmares and you rise as a**

**horror, wearing your sins like another skin.**

**Stolen from** **_Home Again_ ** **by myself: After you read each question, draw a Tarot card and place it in front of you. Make a spread. Observe the cards as they are drawn with an eye of passive contemplation. Think on the card drawn until an answer to the question becomes clear. For later questions, consider the card in relationship to the other cards drawn and truths established. Write down your answer. Move to the next question.**

###  Who were your family members?

King of Cups: artistic or creative intelligence

My father is the one I remember the most clearly. He was an artist, his studio cluttered with paints and brushes. I often revisit the memory of watching him paint a massive portrait of my mother. He’d rendered the planes of her face in purples and greens, explaining to my young self that they were the colors of her soul. “What colors are my soul?” I remember asking him.

I don’t remember his answer.

###  Who of them do you mourn?

The Moon: deception, illusion, anxiety

There is a corner of the forest, normally too close to the borders for me to tread, where I return once every year to place a single flower. Every year, as I meditate on the flower, I try to remember who it’s for. I think it’s for my sister, but I can’t recall anything about her. My memory only provides me with a faint feeling of dread.

###  Who of them drove you to flee into the forest’s embrace?

4 of Wands: prosperity, peace, harmony

In my darkest moments, I remember my brother. He’d been married for some time before I fled here, and I envied his happiness. There was something about me that wasn’t quite right, some strange upset I felt whenever women so much as flirted with me. But all the same, I longed for the kind of love he and his wife shared.

I remember him calling me a freak of nature, an aberration.

###  What truth did you speak and why would you not be silenced?

Five of Cups: loss, grief

My memory comes stronger now. There was a man who introduced me to the power that the forest had. He was beautiful, his dark skin reflecting the light of the moon like an aura of silver. I understood what my father meant then, when he spoke about the colors of my mother’s soul. This man’s soul was the brilliant silver of moonlight.

Martin. His name was Martin.

Martin had an incurable illness, and was not far from death. The forest, he said, had granted him enough remaining time to meet his soulmate. I asked him who his soulmate was, but I already knew.

It was the day after he died that my family saw the colors of my soul for the first time. To them, I must have looked monstrous, clad in a thorny aura as black as ink.

###  What is your great shame?

Eight of Cups: desertion, moving on

I remember now. My sister had the same illness as Martin.

When they cast me out, I left her to die.

###  What power has the forest given you?

The Sun: happiness, contentment

The forest gave me the knowledge of the world beyond the veil, of how blurry the line between life and death can be. It gave me the power to bring Martin back. To bring my sister back.

###  What is its terrible price?

7 of Wands: battle, strife, advantage in combat

My memories are at war with one another. That’s why I’ve been in a fog for so long. I have to choose one or the other: Martin or my sister. Otherwise, I’ll lose myself completely, reduced to just another shadow in the forest that’s slightly too dark.

###  What do you want to feel again, at any cost?

2 of Cups: romantic love, marriage

As I put the pieces of my memories back together, I realize what I knew long before I came here. Family is not about who we are tied to by blood, but who we tie ourselves to by choice. My sister was a good woman, I remember now, but she once told me something that brings tears to my eyes now.

“Leo.”

That’s right. My name is Leo.

“I don’t have much time left, but I’ve seen the way you look at Martin. I’ve seen the way he looks at you. And I know he has even less time than I. So I give you my blessing. To run off with him, to spend his last days with him, even marry him. And when you find us waiting for you in heaven or hell or whatever we go to after we die, you run to him first.”

I say the words. I draw the symbols in the air.

The moonlight grows blindingly bright, and the shadows intertwine with it as I embrace Martin again.


End file.
